{"nrhp_refnum":"90001627","name":"Moselem Farms Mill","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. of PA 662 and Forge Rd., Richmond Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Moselem","county":"Berks County","state":"PA","lat":40.50234128550005,"lon":-75.879503921207,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-11-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A banked 2 1/2-story brick gristmill with a stone foundation in the village of Moselem, Berks County, Pennsylvania, built circa 1860. It sits near the former Hunter's Furnace and Forge site, on the corner of Route 662 and Forge Road beside Moselem Creek.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the mill is significant for its association with the county gristmill industry during a period of growth in Berks County milling between 1818 and 1870. It is also presented as a representative example of the large merchant mills built in the county in that era, with features earlier custom mills lacked, such as extra floors for grain storage and larger windows. It is described as the only known surviving industrial building of the once thriving iron works.","narrative":"Built around 1860 in the village of Moselem, Berks County, this banked brick gristmill rises two and a half stories above a basement and a stone foundation. It stands beside Moselem Creek near the former Hunter's Furnace and Forge site, and its water came from a headrace under an arch on the east elevation. Its size, rectangular plan, and hoist hood over the gable-end doors mark it as a merchant mill, a type built in large numbers in Berks County between 1818 and 1870 to handle grain bought in quantity for sale. Compared with earlier custom mills, it has extra floors for storage, more and larger windows, and more machinery. The mill also served workers at the nearby iron works and processed large quantities of grain for market. Milling ceased in the 1950s. Its interior has been altered, but millstone cut-outs, a hurst frame, and a bag hoist still show how it worked.","period_of_significance":"c 1860 to 1939","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The first floor is partitioned and described as vacant, the basement is an occupied apartment, and milling operations ceased in the 1950s.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:36.929937-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/90001627.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90001627/bfcdb3e435-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90001627/bfcdb3e435-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moselem_Farms_Mill_1_BerksCo_PA.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moselem_Farms_Mill_1_BerksCo_PA.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992384","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moselem_Farms_Mill","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6915591"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/berks-county/moselem-farms-mill-90001627/"}